Sidney Lumet (Sidney Arthur Lumet) Quotes

For any director with a little lucidity, masterpieces are films that come to you by accident.

Sidney Lumet

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• Masterpieces

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Quotes to Explore

• The more success you get, you start to be harder on yourself or more afraid of the looking glass. You have to learn to build a thicker skin because people are paying more attention.

  

  Idina Menzel
  • People
  • Success
  • Attention

• All men begin their learning with Homer.

  

  Xenophanes
  • Men
  • Learning
  • Begin

• Freedom. And Justice. If you have those two, it covers everything. You must stick to those principles and have the courage of your convictions.

  

  Ian Smith
  • Freedom
  • Justice
  • Courage

• To his credit, Obama has undertaken a truly ambitious effort to redefine the United States' view of the world and to reconnect the United States with the emerging historical context of the twenty-first century. He has done this remarkably well.

  

  Zbigniew Brzezinski
  • World
  • Done
  • Effort

• We don't exactly have the opposite interests to chimpanzees. However, things are not looking up for the chimpanzees, because we control their environment. Our interests are not perfectly aligned with theirs, and it turns out it's not easy to get interests aligned.

  

  Jaan Tallinn
  • Up
  • Control
  • Environment

• DMs are a lot like email - and should have the same privacy protections as a mailed letter.

  

  Adam Cohen
  • Same
  • Privacy
  • E-mail

• I tell the government, if people have no jobs, you are in trouble. Government will be in trouble. My job is to help more people have jobs.

  

  Jack Ma
  • People
  • Job
  • Help

• In my cranky old age, I actually prefer recording alone now, on 'The Simpsons,' for example, because I find that the director can just focus on what I'm doing and I can do a lot of variations. A lot of times, when I record with a group, I'll stay after class for another hour or two.

  

  Hank Azaria
  • Age
  • Alone
  • Focus

• The Soviet Union has indeed been our greatest menace, not so much because of what it has done, but because of the excuses it has provided us for our failures.

  

  J. William Fulbright
  • Done
  • Greatest
  • Excuses

• I guess what all artists want is for their work to touch someone or for it to be thought provoking.

  

  Kate Bush
  • Work
  • Want
  • Thought

• There are some sluggish men who are improved by drinking; as there are fruits that are not good until they are rotten.

  

  Samuel Johnson
  • Good
  • Men
  • Drinking

• When trying to innovate, most people stop after 10-15 possibilities, failing to recognize that their first ideas are usually the most obvious ones.

  

  Adam Grant
  • People
  • Trying
  • Stop

• From a pretty early age, my mother realized that I was a little bit more gifted and talented than my own age group. So, she moved me over to play with the boys' travel soccer team when I was about 11 years old.

  

  Abby Wambach
  • She
  • Mother
  • Age

• A first-rate soup is more creative than a second-rate painting.

  

  Abraham Maslow
  • Painting
  • Creative
  • Soup

• If civilization had been left in female hands we would still be living in grass huts.

  

  Camille Paglia
  • Hands
  • Living
  • Civilization

• If you're smarter than me, you shouldn't be reading my books.

  

  Malcolm Gladwell
  • Me
  • Reading
  • Books

• I don't like looking outrageous.

  

  Sade Adu
  • Like
  • Looking
  • Outrageous

• It's a strange lesson to learn in life that your differences, the things that make you feel uncomfortable about yourself are what will help you to grow into who you are. Those are your gifts.

  

  Cyndi Lauper Blue Angel
  • Life
  • Help
  • You

• You've got to keep pushing, keep driving, because in this business, you're going to hear 'no' a lot more than you hear 'yes.'

  

  Taylor Lautner
  • Business
  • You
  • Driving

• Alek was right behind her now, his body pressing close as he adjusted her sword arm. She hadn't realized this fencing business would be so touchy. He grasped her waist, sending a crackle across her skin. If Alek moved his hands any higher, he might notice what was hidden beneath her careful tailoring. “Always keep sideways to your opponent,” he said, gently turning her. “That way, your chest presents the smallest possible target.” “Aye, the smallest possible target,” Deryn sighed. Her secret was safe, it seemed.

  

  Scott Westerfeld
  • Secret
  • Moved
  • Skins

• I bring my classical training - some of it, but not all of it - and also my background and culture, to spirituals. And I try to leave room for that unpredictable factor, where the feeling of the song is allowed to come through. The same ethos can be applied to singing Mozart, or Schubert, or Bach. It's not just about what's on the page.

  

  Kathleen Battle
  • Leave
  • Page
  • Background

• In 'Haraamkhor,' I have explored a few things which I wouldn't have been able to do in bigger films. The process of shooting this film was so organic that it enhanced me as an actor and an artiste.

  

  Nawazuddin Siddiqui
  • Actor
  • Process
  • Films

• For any director with a little lucidity, masterpieces are films that come to you by accident.

  

  Sidney Lumet
  • Films
  • Accident
  • Masterpieces